"We knew the numbers and had them on a board in my room and knew exactly what needed to play out.

"We went through our Turkish preparation as normal on game day.

"I was in my room with my staff.

"I was on the third floor and my team was on the ninth floor and when the kid (Huertas) hits the basket at the buzzer to cut it to nine, I walked out my door to the elevator to go tell my team about it and I could hear the screaming on the ninth floor from my players."

What Donewald experienced next was one of the finest, most emotional moments of his career.

"The young guys that played - they needed to see what these games are all about."

Even in the blowouts, there is something to learn for China.

It's okay to lose games, he says, as long as you lose the right way.

"Of course they're going to fail, but every time you try to go against the best, it becomes a little bit easier," he said.

"So I thought the experience against Turkey was a wonderful exercise for the young boys."

Basketball culture

No national team coaching job is easy, especially for a westerner that leads a team in Asia.

China’s job has presented numerous challenges for Donewald.

There is a language barrier to overcome.

There is also history.

China have not set the world alight in international basketball.

They made it to the Eight-Finals four years ago when a Wang Shipeng miracle three-pointer at the buzzer beat Slovenia and lifted China over Puerto Rico and into fourth place in their group.

The biggest challenge for Donewald has been to get his players to understand what he calls basketball culture.

"The culture is different than being in Brazil, being in Ukraine, being in America," Donewald said.

"Each culture is different.

"However, I'm a true believer that basketball culture remains the same and that's something that we've tried to teach these guys. In the past, these guys would get down eight to 10 points and they'd hang their heads. The next thing you know, they're down 20 points.